NCJ Number
140808
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the latest available comparative figures for the prison populations of member states of the Council of Europe for September 1, 1989, with attention to how imprisonment rates in the United Kingdom compare to other states of the Council of Europe.
Abstract
For each country, the data indicate the prison population on September 1, 1989, and the number of prisoners per 100,000 population. The countries for which inmate statistics are provided are the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, West Germany, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Iceland, and Cyprus. The United Kingdom had a higher prison population on September 1, 1989, than any other member state of the Council of Europe, both in absolute numbers and relative to its overall population. The prison population was 55,047 or 96.5 per 100,000 population. West Germany ranked second with a prison population of 51,729 or 83.8 prisoners per 100,000 population. Figures for the individual countries within the United Kingdom are for England and Wales, 48,481 and 96.2 inmates per 100,000 population; Scotland, 4,786 and 94.0 per 100,000 population; and Northern Ireland, 1,780 and 112.8 per 100,000 population. Data also show the proportion of the prison population of Council of Europe countries who were under 21 on September 1, 1989. The United Kingdom ranked highest in absolute numbers (55,047), but ranked behind Ireland in percentage (21.3 compared to 26.2). The United Kingdom's high level of imprisonment cannot be attributed to higher crime rates. 2 tables